Premier England batsman Joe Root once again showcased his incredible form by scoring a magnificent century against Pakistan on Day 3 of the first Test match in Multan. Root has established himself as the top performer in red-ball cricket in recent years, consistently scoring centuries post-COVID to surpass his competitors - Kane Williamson, Steve Smith, and Virat Kohli - in the esteemed FAB 4 rankings.
The England cricket team has adopted a fearless batting approach since the arrival of head coach Brendon McCullum, but despite that, they rely heavily on Root to anchor and stabilise innings. England's success rate is highly dependable on Root's batting form.
However, former England skipper Michael Vaughan has named the only bowler who has managed to cause trouble for Root in recent times, and it's none other than ICC number 1 ranked pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
During England's tour of India earlier this year, Bumrah dismissed Root thrice and constantly troubled him with his disciplined line and length.
Vaughan asserted that Root will work on how to tackle Bumrah for the next challenge in 2025.
"To be as good as he is you have to pick up the ball so quickly out of the hand, which gives him that extra bit of time. The only bowler he does not quite line up is Jasprit Bumrah, I reckon, but who does? He will already be working on that and thinking about how to manage him next summer," the former England captain wrote in his column for The Telegraph.
‘Bowlers are waiting for Joe Root to make a mistake’
The 33-year-old Root moved to fifth place on the all-time list of test run-scorers, behind India's Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Australia's Ricky Ponting (13,378), South Africa's Jacques Kallis (13,289) and India's Rahul Dravid (13,288).
Vaughan further compared the run-scorer to chess players and claimed that the bowlers don't have an answer to Root and are only hoping for him to commit an error and lose his wicket.
"It is not just skill, but strategy. Run-scorers are generally like chess players, manoeuvring fielders and their own game to solve problems. Joe said something on TV recently that stuck with me. He said: “I try to nullify every mode of dismissal.” While there have been little technical foibles over the years, he has just about done that, and there is no obvious way to get him out, against pace or spin. At the moment, bowlers are waiting for him to make a mistake," he added.
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